In the intensive raising of animals particularly hogs it is well known that the hogs are kept in pens inside a building with alleyways between the pens. The alleyways are of course maintained as narrow as possible so as to avoid wasted space. In many cases there are a series of parallel alleyways across the building and end alleyways at the end of the building to allow transfer from one alleyway to the next.
The alleyways provide access for the animal handler in carrying out the various tasks that are necessary and allowing the handler to traverse from pen to pen. In addition the alleyways allow animals to be transferred from one pen to another as their status in the breeding cycle changes.
In is conventional to control animals within the alleyways by providing gates across the alleyway at particular locations as required. In many cases the gates simply comprise a transverse lightweight barrier which is lifted and carried by the animal handler and located at a required position in the alleyway on suitable mountings at the sides of the alleyway. Thus in some cases it is required to cause the animal to enter the alleyway at a particular location, to move along the alleyway and to depart at a second location. For this purpose the animal handler can provide two gates which confine the animal or animals to the required portion of the alleyway and prevent them from escaping beyond the required locations.
In an alternative use of such gates, they can be used to confine an animal to a required position within the alleyway and particularly to confine a boar in the alleyway at a required location adjacent to a number of sows to be artificially inseminated. When those sows are attended to, it is necessary to move the boar to a next section of the alleyway and this is done by lifting and moving the gates to the new required location. At the same time the boar is lead into the new location where it is confined by the newly positioned gates.
In all of these arrangements it is necessary, where minimum number of persons are used, for the handler to break off from his activities and to lift and move the gates to the new required locations. In other management regimens, additional handlers are used simply to manage the position of the gates this of course significantly increases labour costs.
One alternative technique to the conventional gating system has been to provide a cart which actually carries the animal concerned along the alleyway. Examples of such carts are shown in U.S. Pat. no. 6,196,975 (Labrecque) issued Mar. 6th 2001 and in Canadian patent 2,284,395 (Kleinsasser).
An alternative arrangement for moving an animal to a required location is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,102 (Mack) issued Nov. 7th 2000 which comprises a remote controlled robot which simply provides a locating point for a tether so that the boar is lead along the alley in response to movements of the robot.
In an alternative arrangement for use in crowding animals along a runway there are provided barriers carried on rails so that the barrier is suspended from the rail into the runway and moves along the runway on the rails to crowd the animals along the runway to a required location for example for milking. Such crowding devices are conventionally used in dairy operations and examples are shown in United States Patents:
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved gate assembly for confining animals such as pigs in an alleyway or runway.
According to a first aspect of the invention, therefore, there is provided a gate assembly for confining animals in an alley having an alley floor and two alley sides, the gate assembly comprising:
a base shaped and arranged for location in the alley between the alley sides;
ground wheels on the base for transporting the base along the alley, the ground wheels being arranged to run on the alley floor between the alley sides;
a motor operable by a user for driving at least one of the ground wheels for causing movement along the alley;
and a barrier carried by the base for movement therewith along the alley, the barrier being shaped and arranged to co-operate closely with the alley sides to close the alley against passage therealong past the gate assembly by the animals.
In one arrangement where the sides of the alley are not vertical, the barrier may include side edges portions which are shaped to define non-vertical portions configured to match the shape of the alley sides. In particular, these side edges portions may be inclined upwardly and outwardly to match the shape of conventional pens which are similarly inclined away from the front of the pen at the alley.
In this arrangement, the barrier includes a main barrier portion attached to the base and the side edge portions may be formed on barrier panel portions which are movable, for example by folding, relative to a main portion of the barrier so as to change the end elevational shape of the barrier.
Preferably the barrier consists of simply a generally planar panel arranged to extend at right angles to the alley.
Preferably the motor is controlled by a remote control operable by the user and at least one of the ground wheels is steerable under control of the user so that the user can control the movement and location of the gate assembly from a remote location while engaged in other related tasks. For this purpose, the gate assembly may include side guide members for engaging the sides of the alley for guiding movement of the gate assembly in the alley.
Preferably the barrier is expandable side to side to increase the width thereof between the sides of the alley to accommodate different width alleys and in some cases for engaging the sides of the alley for clamping the gate assembly at a required position in the alley when movement is halted.
In the alternative there may be provided clamping members separate from the barrier which are movable relative to the base to effect clamping of the gate assembly to the sides of the alley at a required position in the alley when movement is halted.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for confining animals in an alley comprising:
providing an alley having an alley floor and two alley sides;
locating one or more animals in the alley free to move along the alley on the floor and across the alley between the sides;
providing a gate assembly comprising:
a base shaped and arranged for location in the alley between the alley sides;
ground wheels on the base for transporting the base along the alley, the ground wheels being arranged to run on the alley floor between the alley sides;
a motor operable by a user for driving at least one of the ground wheels for causing movement along the alley;
and a barrier carried by the base for movement therewith along the alley,
moving the base along the alley to a position at which the animals are to be confined;
arranging the barrier so as to have side edges shaped and arranged to co-operate with the alley sides and a bottom edge shaped and arranged to co-operate with the alley floor to close the alley against passage therealong past the gate assembly by the animals within the alley otherwise free to move within the alley.